Bears Film Breakdown: Defense Uncharacteristic in Loss to Dolphins

The Chicago Bears’ defense went into Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins with a juicy matchup.Ryan Tannehill was ruled out, soBrock Osweiler made the start against arguably the best defense in the NFL.

Through three quarters, the Bears’ defense did a good job against the Dolphins’ offense, allowing just 13 points. In the fourth, the Miami heat and Dolphins’ big-play wide receivers got to the Bears’ elite defense.

The Dolphins would finish with 31 points and a victory over the Bears on Sunday. After watching the film, I will try to figure out what went wrong with the Bears’ defense on Sunday in Miami.

Let’s get into it.

The heat did matter

Last week I wrote a piece about how the Miami hot temperatures could potentially be an issue for the Bears against the Dolphins. People didn’t think it would matter much. Well, folks, it did. It actually mattered a whole lot.

By the time the fourth quarter came around the defense was exhausted. Could you blame them? They were playing in the 100-degree heat, with no shade on the sideline. That is a great move by the Dolphins by the way.

The Dolphins sideline is actually shaded. Well played if you ask me.

Anyway, the Bears played 79 snaps on Sunday in an overtime game. That’s 20 more snaps than they averaged in the first four games of the season. Sure, one could argue that the Dolphins had to play in the heat too.

While that’s true, it’s much different when you live in the climate throughout the week and practice in it.

Ok, my weather rant is over. Just in case you missed what I said last week though, check it out below.

The Dolphins have been excellent at home since the start of the 2016 season. During that span, they are 12-6 in the Flordia heat. It will be hot and humid on Sunday. The Bears are going to need to be prepared for it. The problem is you cannot really simulate that kind of atmosphere in practice.

Over the years, the heat has given players like Tom Bradyissues. He is 7-9 as a starter in Miami. In fact, the New England Patriots have lost four out of their last five games there. That tells you just how real the home field advantage is.

Want to know how many sacks the Bears got on Sunday? Zero, that’s right, the team that led the league in sacks through the first four weeks got almost zero pressure on Osweiler Sunday. That is unacceptable.

Now, Khalil Mackdid suffer an ankle injury pretty early on, so that did contribute to the lack of pass rush. Still, other guys have to pick up the slack. It can be just Mack getting to the QB all the time. Other are going to have to step up.

On Tuesday, Mack underwent some tests on his ankle. Hopefully, he can suit up this Sunday against the Patriots andTom Brady.

On the first interception, Fuller gets great position and makes a nice catch. The second interception was even more impressive because he read the eye’s of Osweiler and jumped the route.

That was the good…there was also some bad from Fuller on the tape. Below we see him trying to cover WRKenny Stills, which is a hard task for anyone. Still, Fuller cannot end up on the ground like that.

This rep by Kyle Fuller attempting to cover Kenny Stills is what a normal human would look like in an NFL game. pic.twitter.com/vojFR1CP4R

Fuller was called for defensive holding on this play and rightfully so, but if you’re going to give up the catch and take a penalty…you might as well tackle Grant to prevent the big play from happening.

Missed Tackles

You know how I said I was done with the heat earlier…I’m not! Why? Because it was again a huge factor in the second half. The Bears missed 14 tackles on Sunday…12 came in the second half. When players get tired routine plays become hard.

That’s exactly what happened in the second half against the Dolphins’ offense.

The Bears gave up two touchdowns to WRAlbert Wilson on screens. One went for 43 yards, the other for 75. The 75-yard screen was probably the most frustrating because three players were in great position to make a tackle.

In the picture above, we have three Bears’ defenders in red and Wilson in yellow. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you that was the play that went for a 75-yard touchdown.

The hope is that Sunday was a fluke for the Bears’ defense, especially in terms of tackling.

Other Notes

The officiating was awful on Sunday. There’s no other way around it. On the Dolphins’ big play in OT to Stills checkout the hold on Mack.

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Nick is a recent graduate of Northern Illinois University and passionate about everything Chicago sports (except the Cubs). He has run his own website, been featured on Bleacher Report, and tried to sell his soul on eBay (which he hasn’t gotten back). He hopes to one day see his beloved Bears win the Super Bowl and is still trying to figure out why Jay Cutler gets so much hate.

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